docs: def _write(self, stream, text, byte_order):
          '''
          Write the data to a PLY file.
  
          '''
          if text:
              self._write_txt(stream)
          else:
              if self._have_list:
                  # There are list properties, so serialization is
                  # slightly complicated.
                  self._write_bin(stream, byte_order)
              else:
                  # no list properties, so serialization is
                  # straightforward.
                  stream.write(self.data.astype(self.dtype(byte_order),
                                                copy=False).data)